Category Archives: characters

Credible Fiction

Posted on September 10, 2016 by Pat Bowne

I read a book this week that lacked credibility. It wasn’t a non-fiction book, so those criteria of credibility didn’t apply. It was a novel about a well-defined phenomenon – the decline of the Jesuit order after Vatican II – … Continue reading →

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Stuff That Enrages Me, and Why I Read It

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Pat Bowne

  The story is that one of my favorite Victorian writers, Charlotte Yonge, used to submit all her manuscripts to her father before she sent them to publishers. He would then ruthlessly excise anything which was improper, making sure that the … Continue reading →

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You’ve told me how, now show me why

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Pat Bowne

In the last two weeks alone, I saw three articles on blogs I follow about how to write realistic female characters. But how many of those bloggers review books that contain realistic female characters? This seems to be a pattern. … Continue reading →

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Those Who Favor Fire

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Pat Bowne

What better way to start the new year than a new Royal Academy Story?  In ‘Those Who Favor Fire,’ a museum curator develops a friendship that’s hard to categorize — mainly because the other participant, Winston Chiliming XXIII, will not … Continue reading →

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Character Growth vs. Stagnation

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Pat Bowne

David Farland had an interesting post this morning about stories that depend on character growth and those that depend on stagnation. By ‘interesting’ I mean that it answered some questions and raised a bunch more. The question it answered was … Continue reading →

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The only noun that matters

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Pat Bowne

I sold a Royal Academy story that I’d been shopping around for a while.  It was one I hadn’t planned to write, but the leading character got hold of me and more or less demanded to be written about. I … Continue reading →

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The Mini-career roars along

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Pat Bowne

I’ve posted before about my mini-scale writing career, and how it’s providing everything an author could want — only in smaller doses, without paparazzi.  So I’ve received two fan emails, met two fans at conferences for lunch, posted one piece … Continue reading →

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In Which I Rant About Unspecified Witches

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Pat Bowne

If there’s a fantasy trope I absolutely despise, it’s the Persecuted Witch. You know her. She lives her life in fear of being identified as the witch she is and burned, stoned, tortured, whatever, by benighted neighbors. Yet she uses … Continue reading →

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Do you like your characters?

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Pat Bowne

I once read a manuscript by someone who didn’t like their own protagonist, and I’m afraid I gave the author far too much grief about it. Looking back, I realize that I’m equally perturbed by authors who like their protagonists … Continue reading →

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